In 1999, tabloids (The Sun in London and the New York Post) ran articles claiming that Jennifer Lopez had indemnified her body (her entire body, please note) to the tune of $1 billion. Even though pound-for-pound the singer's boobs fetched a more generous appraisal than her hiney ($100 million per breast vs. $300 million for legs and buttocks combined, according to the Post), word on the street soon had it that the "abundant butt" alone was valued at a cool billion. Lopez denied it. I think. "I don't know where they got it from," she said to reporters when questioned about the tabloid allegations. "When I heard the story I thought it was very funny." Her agent's response was even more vague: "At this time we cannot confirm or deny this information." A more flaccid set of denials ran under headlines like "Lopez: I'm No Billion Dollar Babe" on BBC News and elsewhere, so we're obliged to conclude — a posteriori, as it were — that someone at some point must have actually uttered the words "It's not true" in front of a journalist. Either that, or in Lopez-speak "funny" is synonymous with "false." The closest to a straightforward disavowal I've found in print appeared in an August 2000 interview Lopez did with BeatBoxBetty.com, in which she was asked to name the "wildest rumors" she had heard about herself. "The craziest," she said, "was the Billion Dollar Butt one. It was on the front page of the paper, here in New York. I happened to be in New York that week. It was funny." The interviewer pressed on: "So you haven't insured your body?" "I think that's what I'm trying to say here," Lopez replied. (http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/celebrities/a/jennifer_lopez.htm) So, I'd say this rumor is probably false. If it is true, however, Lopez is hardly the first celeb to cover certain, uh, assets with insurance policies. However, $1 billion is believed to be the biggest celebrity premium in history. According to the Post, other insurance-worthy celebs include: - 1940s film legend Betty Grable took out a $1 million policy on her legs. - Sultry Marlene Dietrich shelled out $1 million to cover her voice. - Fred Astaire insured his legs for $75,000 each and his wrists and arms for $20,000. - Marilyn Monroe's body was insured by several film studios. - Entertainment Tonight's Mary Hart has a $1 million policy for each of her gams. - Rocker Bruce Springsteen has insured his vocal cords for $6 million. (http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,5700,00.html)